Some Masks Are Better Kept On
by appa-appa-away
Summary: A week before the Day of Black Sun, Aang decides to take the his friends into the Fire Nation capital city for the masquerade Summer Harvest Festival. But what happens when Katara gets separated from the group and befriends a stranger for the evening? Zutara one-shot.


Author's Note: I don't usually like to write one-shots this big. I usually keep single chapters in a bigger story a lot shorter than this, but I got into the zone and just click-clacked it out. Very unplanned, written in four hours straight... just as the last story I uploaded, I ask you to consider this one a sketch-dump and I apologize if it's no good and if everybody is really out of character, which I don't doubt they are. But I had a lot of fun with it and I hope you enjoy reading some Zutara... or... Sapphzon? You'll get what I mean :) Enjoy!

* * *

**Some Masks Are Better Kept On**

"I came to the Summer Harvest Festival with Kuzon once!" Aang said, leading them through the crowded streets in excitement. "We didn't stay out long though because after dark everyone started drinking… but I think we're old enough to witness that sort of thing now."

The gang kept calm as they wandered through the bustling people. Everyone the past had face-paint or masks on, and so Aang had made sure they came prepared. Sokka had donned a balaclava, Toph a small gold strip that wrapped neatly around her head, only covering her eyes, Aang a helmet that came down over his nose, and Katara in her full Painted Lady getup.

"I still think this is a bad idea," Sokka grouched. "It's hardly a week until the Day of Black Sun. I don't like the luck we've been having enough to think it won't run out again tonight."

Aang shoved a glass of something bubbly at him. "Just drink this and start having a good time, Sokka," he said with a smile. Sokka sniffed the substance suspiciously and took a ginger sip while Aang handed a glass to Katara and Toph. It tasted bittersweet and full of alcohol. The bubbles stung their eyes. "Apparently, this stuff is all the rage for teenagers out to have fun," Aang said, handing the man at the stall a few coins to pay for the drinks.

"You kids be careful now," the man said. "That stuff is strong. They really shouldn't let kids drink it." Disregarding him, they walked off, sipping at the bittersweet substance under their noses. The festive atmosphere welled up around them and began to blur as they finished their drinks.

"I'm a little dizzy," Katara said after taking the last drops into her mouth. "I'm going to go and find water." The others didn't seem to hear her over the sound of music and the distraction of someone setting off fireworks somewhere to their right. With a giddy chuckle, Katara slipped away from them, searching for a tap. Not far away, she saw people bending over little bubble-fountains and joined the line. A funny taste remained in her mouth with the combined aftertaste of whatever drink Aang had given her and the water. Swallowing didn't make it go away and her head only seemed to spin more as she walked away from the bubble taps to rejoin the crowd.

Katara's stomach twisted uncomfortably when she realized she'd lost sight of the others. "They didn't hear me say where I was going, did they?" she said out loud with a sigh. Her shoulders slumped for a moment before she lifted her head again and started her search. _At least this gives me a chance to take a look around for myself,_ she thought as she passed stalls of food. The smells that wafted towards her made her stomach growl in hunger. For a moment, she considered buying something to eat. _But Aang's got the money…_ With a sigh, she started away from the food stalls.

Another round of firecrackers got the attention of the crowd and they suddenly let out a loud cheer. Katara covered her hears at the suddenness of their enthusiasm and froze. For a moment, she stayed where she was, waiting for things to return to normal. But suddenly the crowd started moving in the same direction; the opposite direction to where she was trying to go. Katara tried to force her way through the wall of people coming towards her, but there were so many. She basically threw herself against the people in front of her and for a split second, she was airborne. Blocking out their indignant complaints, she managed to catch a glimpse of her friends up against a wall, keeping out of the crowd's way. They didn't see her and she dropped back to the ground, suddenly losing her feet.

"Wow!" someone called out as she hit the pavement. Katara covered her face as somebody's boots came too close to her head for comfort. "Look out below!" Suddenly, two very warm hands were gripping her and pulling her back to her feet. She was pointed in the direction the rest of the crowd were moving and walked forward obediently when she felt the person's hand still on her back, guiding her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Katara glanced at him. He was tall and wearing a mask that covered the top half of his face. His eyes were hardly visible through the tiny peek-holes, but she caught a glimpse of smouldering gold. "I think so. Thank you."

She watched his lips turn upward into a crooked half-smile, showing a fragment of his white teeth. "No problem. What's your name?"

"Um… Sapphire!" she lied, quickly. "Sapphire Fire, ha ha ha…"

She could have sworn he was frowning. "Okay…"

"What's your name?" she asked quickly, feeling stupid. It was one thing to introduce herself to Aang's 'school teacher' as such, but it felt wrong to introduce herself by an alias to someone who had just helped her. _Lay low, Katara. _

He seemed taken aback by the question. "Oh… my name is… Kuzon!"

"Kuzon?" Katara repeated, doubtfully. _That was Aang's friend's name! Must be a popular one…_ "That's nice." She looked ahead of her for a moment and tried not to bump into the person on the other side of her, or the person in front of her. "Where is everybody suddenly going? Were the fireworks like a signal or something?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "It means the concert in the city square is about to start. How could you not know that?"

She thought fast. "This is my first time to a festival in the city. I'm from the colonies," she said simply.

"Neat. Well this happens here every year. One set of fireworks signals that the festival has officially started. The second set signals the concert is about to start. You can't buy drinks over there though; that's why so many people wait until the last minute to head over."

Katara nodded and watched the crowd ahead of her for a moment. Kuzon's warm hand rested gently on her back, guiding her forward. It was comforting, although she wished she hadn't been separated from her friends. She wondered if they would follow the crowd to the city square too, or if she'd have to meet them back at the campsite. _I hope they aren't worried…_

"So… Sapphire. What brings you to the city?" he asked awkwardly as the crowd slowed its pace. They came to a complete stop for a moment.

"My mother decided I was finally old enough to come here by myself and I really wanted to see the festival," Katara lied. She made a small adjustment to her Painted Lady costume. "Are you from the city?" He nodded. She watched the way he opened him mouth, hesitated to say something and then closed it again. Katara frowned. "Do you come to the festival often?"

"No. Actually, this is my first time too. And I snuck out." A mischievous smile tugged his lips for a split second; a sort of triumphant smirk which made Katara frown deeper, because somehow, it was familiar.

The crowd lurched forward again and then suddenly dissipated as they came out into a more open space; the city square. In the middle of the square, up on a small stage, a group of people with instruments were starting to play and sing.

"Are you here with anybody?" Kuzon asked as they skirted around the square.

"Yes, but we got separated. I doubt I'm going to find them again tonight."

"Well, I'm here on my own. Do you want to hang out?"

Katara looked at him suspiciously and wished yet again that she'd told him her real name. She still couldn't see his eyes properly through the peek-holes in his mask and his lips were suddenly unreadable. Katara hesitated for a moment before nodding. "That would be nice. I'd feel better if I wasn't wandering around on my own."

Kuzon gave a nod and took her wrist gently. "Come on then, let's get up the front."

The crowd got thicker again the close they got to the stage and Katara grabbed a hold of her new friend's shirt to be sure she wouldn't end up left behind again. The band was louder than she'd realized by the time they got as close as they could. A wall of four lines of people stood between them and the barricades before the stage. No sooner had they stopped moving, they'd become part of the next line in the wall, and another line was forming behind them, boxing them in.

"There's a lot of people here," she said a little nervously as the crowd began to move together, in time with the music.

"I'm going to guess you've never been in a mosh before," Kuzon said with a wry smirk. "Just stay close to me and don't fall down. People here will get pretty into it and if you can't beat them, join them."

For a moment, Katara considered how ironic those last few words were in relation to her place in the war; days away from invading the capitol city of the Fire Nation, but joining them for a night of masquerade festivities nonetheless, then Kuzon suddenly had an arm around her and they were jumping up and down in time with the rest of the crowd.

It wasn't long before people in the crowd were thrashing, especially where they stood so close to the stage. Katara was working up a sweat trying to keep up with the dancing and shrunk into herself when everyone around her started singing along in loud, out of tune, slightly intoxicated voices.

"Sapphire, sing along!" Kuzon's voice suddenly yelled in her ear, barely audible above the sound of the band and the crowd.

She shook her head quickly, biting her lip beneath the red veil around her head. "I don't know the words!"

She couldn't tell if he was frowning, but the shape of his lips said it all. "How can you not know this song?! Everybody knows this song!"

Katara managed a helpless shrug and smiled guiltily. "I only ever heard the music we had out in the colony, but there wasn't much for us to listen to out there."

"I'll believe that," he scoffed.

The song ended and the crowd roared with a cheer for a moment. The band's sungi hornist played a few deep, slow notes to fill the gap between the songs. As the next song started up, the crowd gave another cheer, filled with excitement.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kuzon make a gesture to somebody and then indicate to her. _Oh no, I've been caught out,_ she thought, panicking. The next moment, Kuzon and the stranger standing on the other side of her had lifted her up onto their shoulders. She let out a yelp of surprise and clutched to the tops of their heads for balance. "Sapphire, don't be scared, have fun!" Kuzon's all too familiar voice called out. She glanced down hesitantly and was met with a more genuine smile, which she did not recognize. She smiled back, adjusting herself in her new seat before she looked back towards the band playing on the stage. Her eyes swept the square and all the masked and painted faces surrounding her, searching for those that were familiar.

Across the square, she saw someone in a balaclava just like Sokka's and resisted the urge to wave for fear of falling. She couldn't see Toph or Aang's masks nearby and worried that they'd all been separated from each other. And then she spotted Aang's helmet a little closer to her… and another one just like it a little further away. And Toph's golden piece of ribbon around the eyes was repeated around several of the faces she could see in the crowd. _Oh no, some people have the same masks! How am I supposed to find them? _She scanned the crowd for a likeness of her own outfit and found none. _Hopefully they'll be able to spot me out…_

The song ended and she felt herself slide forward as Kuzon and the stranger put her down. The stranger shuffled away after they yelled out a thank you. Katara took a moment to balance herself on the ground again.

"Are you okay? I thought I told you to have fun up there. You looked miserable!" he called over the hum of the crowd waiting for their next song.

Katara ducked her head guiltily. "Sorry, I was trying to spot out my friends, but heaps of people have the same masks as them…"

"You'll never find them here tonight now that you've been separated, so stop stressing yourself over it, Sapphire," he said. The next song started playing and the crowd screamed its approval and excitement. Kuzon said something and Katara watched the way his lips moved in that familiar way, but heard nothing. She cupped her ear and gestured that she couldn't hear him. He moved his face closer to hers. "Do you want to get out of here?" There was concern edging his voice and Katara frowned, wondering why. It wasn't until he put a hand over hers that she realized she was holding her head; it was still spinning from the drink Aang had given her earlier. Finally, she nodded in reply.

Kuzon took her by the wrist and started leading her back through the crowd. There wasn't as much resistance as when she'd tried to move against them moving against her. The further from the stage they got, the easier it was to move. Towards the edge of the square, they could almost move freely and Katara realized that her ears were ringing with the volume from the band up-close. She stumbled as they left the square and Kuzon caught her and straightened her up. The way he touched her was awkward and clumsy, but she couldn't help smiling at the gesture.

"Do you want a drink?" he asked her as they wandered across the pavement. They were back near the stalls; back where Katara had first been separated from her friends. There were less people than earlier and she guessed most of them were at the concert in the square. Kuzon was actually able to talk to her without having to yell. "Sapphire?"

Katara blinked, confused for a moment. "A drink would be good."

He led her over to a stall and gave the man a couple of coins in exchange for a glass of the same bittersweet bubbly substance Aang had given her earlier. A part of her wanted to refuse it, knowing it was responsible for her spinning head, but how could she refuse the gift a kind stranger had given her? _Kuzon is… nice,_ she officially decided as she accepted the glass. Their hands touched for a moment and she realized how warm he was. _I guess not all firebenders can be bad people._

They walked further along the pavement and found a bench to sit down on. In the distance, they could still hear the band playing in the square, the crowd cheering and a belltower somewhere further away striking eleven. _I didn't realize how late it was…_

"So Sapphire, is the city and the festival everything you expected?" Kuzon asked awkwardly, breaking a silence Katara hadn't fully realized had fallen between them.

She opened her mouth to make a reply only to realize how dry her throat was. She took a dainty sip from the glass in her hand and sighed. "To be honest, I had no idea what to expect," she admitted, and it was the first honest thing she felt she'd said to him all night. "I've never been here before and I'd only heard about the Summer Harvest Festival very briefly." Kuzon nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "Born and bred in the colonies…" she added, just for safe measure.

"Right," he said. He looked down at the glass in his hands and bent his head over it for a moment as if examining the content. Katara could feel the tension building in the silence.

"I'm enjoying it here," she assured him. "I'm glad I bumped into you. I was starting to freak out when I was on my own."

He gave a light chuckle and she watched his lips twist into a smirk; that all too familiar look of smugness. "I'd noticed your distress when I picked you up off the ground. That's why I asked if you wanted to hang out. I didn't want to leave you alone to panic."

Katara took another sip – more like a much larger than intended gulp – of the bubbly liquid in her glass and started coughing. Kuzon took the glass from her hands and placed both of them on the floor before thumping her on the back. The tickle in her throat dissipated and she took a gulp of air, giving a sheepish laugh. "Thank you," she said, her voice smaller than intended. "For everything."

Kuzon smiled at her. "Don't mention it. I've got to do _something_ right."

She gave a laugh. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked down into his glass of sparkling liquid for a long moment. Katara sat up a little straighter and tried not to lean in too close to him. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life so far," he said. She saw his mouth twitch in want of something more to say on the subject, but he left it at, "That's not important right now though." He turned his head towards her again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get onto that topic."

Katara shook her head. "That's okay. Did you want to talk about it?"

"Nah," he said, leaning back against the bench. He took a deep breath and then raised the glass to his lips and grained it in two mouthfuls. His lips made a smacking sound as he pulled it away and sighed. "You seem like a pretty cool girl, Sapphire," he said.

Katara felt herself blush. _Now I REALLY wish he knew my real name. _ "Thanks."

There was a long pause before he started again. "If you've never been to the festival before, that means you haven't seen the main attraction."

Katara frowned at him. "What's that?"

"The lanterns? You know, this festival is also known as the Summer Lanterns Festival, right?"

"I did not know that," she said bluntly. "But that sounds neat. Where are all the lanterns?"

His lips twitched into that smirk again. Why was that smirk so familiar? "Down by the beach. They come out over the bay at midnight, just before the masks-off fireworks over the square."

She tilted her head to one side. "That sounds sweet."

"It is pretty sweet. But if you want to see them we'd better start moving; it's still a bit of a walk to the beach and you'd want to get there in time."

Katara stood up, suddenly excited for what was still to come in the night. "Let's go!" she tilted her head back and took a hearty mouthful of her drink, only to start spluttering. "How did you drain your glass like that?!"

Kuzon started chuckling. "Take it easy, Sapphire."

"Who? Oh, right, me."

There was an awkward pause in which she was _certain_ he must have been frowning at her in confusion. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ She continued sipping daintily at the bittersweet liquid as they started walking. Kuzon left his empty glass on the pavement next to the bench as they walked away.

"Lose the glass before we get to the beach," he warned as they turned a corner. Katara nodded and resisted the urge to shrink up next to him as they came clear of the buildings that protected the inner city streets from the ocean breeze. She finished her drink and put the glass on the front of an empty stall.

Looking along the strip of pavement that ran along the water's edge, Katara could see people in couples and groups and even the odd person standing on their own finding a place to sit for when the lanterns came out. The bigger groups were loud and their voices were filled with alcohol. Kuzon led her further down from where most people were sitting.

"Everyone goes to the main beach for the lanterns," he said. She could hear the edge of a complaint on his voice. "They're missing out. The best place to watch the lanterns from is around the bend, over on the rocks. The tide never gets that far up, so it's actually safe. I used to sneak out of the palace to watch the lanterns from there, even though I never went into the city for the festival."

"That's so cool," Katara said. "Wait, the palace?"

"Huh?" Kuzon's voice was suddenly alarmed, as if he'd said too much, and Katara suspected that he had indeed. "Oh… yeah, well I live in the same sort of area as the palace so I just say that so people get an idea of where I mean…"

"Right…"

He cleared his throat loudly and started leading her off the pavement and down to the sand. They skirted around the bay until they reached the rocks and climbed up to a good vantage point. "Sit on the other side," he said as she was lowering herself down next to him. "You're cold. I'll be your windbreaker."

Katara blinked at him for a moment with wide eyes until her face cracked into a smile. Her eyes lit up underneath the red veil around her head and she let out a fresh burst of laughter. "That's sweet of you. Are you sure though?" Kuzon nodded and basically pulled her over to the other side of him.

When she sat down, he didn't take his arm from around her. Katara let herself lean into him. Kuzon was warm and worked well as a windbreaker. "You're a firebender?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "There's no way you are. You're freezing." He rubbed a hand up and down one of her bare arms, feeling the gooseflesh under his touch. Katara giggled, nodding in confirmation.

Katara let her head rest against his shoulder. _I hope Sokka and Aang aren't worried about me,_ she thought, closing her eyes. She tried to imagine the look on her brother's face when he finds out that she spent the evening wandering around and flirting with a strange firebender. _Maybe I'll keep the flirting part to myself…_

"What time do you think it is, Sapphire?" Kuzon asked softly.

Katara glanced up at the moon. "It's getting close to midnight. You were right about how long it would take to get here."

"Sorry for making you walk," he chuckled. "I just thought seeing as it's your first time with the lanterns, you should get the real experience."

She turned to face him properly and gave him a smile. "Thanks. Really, I mean it. Aside from the initial panic when I got separated from Aan – um, my friends, tonight as been really nice."

Somewhere back towards the city, they heard a distant loud uproar from the crowd in the square. "That's the band over. You're right, it's nearly midnight."

"I'm really excited for these lanterns now."

"They're beautiful," he said. "Like you. Or at least, what I can see of you." Katara gasped and felt her face go red. "Sorry…" Kuzon turned away guiltily and started to retract his arm.

"No, don't be," she said quickly, leaning into him again. "I'm just flattered is all."

He turned back to face her hesitantly. Back on the main beach and echoing from the city square, thousands of voices started chanting suddenly. "Ten! Nine! Eight!..."

Katara blinked. "Why are they so excited?" she frowned. "I thought they were just lanterns."

Kuzon coughed awkwardly. "Well, it's one of those things that happen at midnight so all of the couples usually get into it with the whole midnight kiss thing, but I didn't mention that part because I didn't really think you'd want to do that sort of thing with a complete stranger!" he said really quickly.

"After tonight, I think you've earned it," she said, half jokingly.

"… FIVE! FOUR! THREE!..."

Katara felt herself blushing furiously as she parted the red veil in front of her face just enough that her mouth was perfectly visible to him. She saw the way he reacted; the way he swallowed at a lump in his throat and the way the moonlight flickered off his golden eyes through the tiny peek-holes of his mask.

"ZERO!"

Katara saw the golden eyes behind the peek-holes close as she leaned her face in towards his. She closed her eyes too, just before she felt her lips brush his. His lips were hot, almost feverish, and very clumsy… or maybe that was her. They both hesitated for a moment before deepening the kiss. From behind her closed eyelids, she could see the faint glow of the lanterns going out over the bay.

Kuzon pulled away from her gently and she straightened up, her face beet red. "Sorry," she said.

He shook his head. "Don't be, that was… nice."

Katara looked over the bay. The water glittered with the glowing reflection of lanterns, floating gracefully over the bay. It was like a gentle swarm of fireflies, slowly descending on the sea. Kuzon was right; they were beautiful. "We take our masks off when the fireworks go off, right?"

"Well, yeah… but about that. I'm not so sure I want to take my mask off now."

Katara frowned. "What? Why not?" she demanded.

"Well, I wasn't counting on the kiss, but now I don't want you to know how ugly I am…" He'd turned his face away from her again. "Sorry, I know it sounds stupid, but I don't want you to take one look at my face and regret spending the night with me."

She cocked her head to the side, frowning, trying to read those all too familiar lips that were pressed into an all too familiar scowl. "What's wrong with your face?"

He froze for a moment. Then, slowly, he raised a hand to the left side of his face and let his fingers rest on top of his mask, over his cheek. "I have a scar…"

Katara's heart froze. She held her breath for a moment as an awful possibility rushed through her mind. _No, it couldn't be…_ But the dots connected too well; it was too much of a coincidence. _It couldn't be…_ "Your name isn't really Kuzon. Is it?" she deadpanned.

He glanced at her, shocked by the sudden question. "What?"

_That's it. That's his voice. How could I have been so stupid?! _ She stood up quickly, and the boy in the mask next to her stood up too. His mouth was slightly open. _Those are his lips. I almost kissed those lips in Ba Sing Se…_

An eruption of light and sound exploded over the city square behind her, lighting up the sky in the background. She didn't know what made her do it, but she raised her arms to the wide-brimmed straw hat and pulled it off, veil and all. She hadn't bothered to add the face-paint underneath for the festival.

The boy in front of her let his mouth drop open and took a step back. "What are you doing here?"

"I…" She cut herself off, frowning and glanced down at the veil that no longer hid her face at all. _So much for laying low!_

Zuko ripped the half-face mask off and Katara was met with scowling, angry, golden eyes. "Does this mean Aang is here too?"

Katara blinked again, her eyes going wide. She'd blown their cover. _But… how does he know that Aang is alive?! _

"You can't be here," he said suddenly, taking another step back, frowning deeper. "What were you all thinking, marching into the Fire Nation capital city?!" he yelled, waving an arm back in the direction of the festivities. "Are you all out of your minds?"

She shook her head for a moment, slowly, the flicker of a smile catching at one corner of her mouth. "Yes. I guess we are."

Zuko glared at her. "You need to get out of here. Fast. You _and_ the others. I don't know how Azula knows Aang is alive, but I'm certain she suspects it, and she knows all about your invasion plan next week."

Katara felt her face faltering at the sound of the words that made her body rush with adrenaline. _Azula, Aang, the invasion… they know!_ "Wait, how do _you_ know Aang is alive?"

He was taken aback for a moment and had to think before he answered. "The spirit water. You showed me the vile in Ba Sing Se. But I never said a thing about it to Azula. All I know is that she told everyone that _I_ shot Aang down, and my sister wouldn't give up the glory of slaying the Avatar unless she was certain he wasn't dead."

Katara nodded slowly, taking it all in. She felt her legs shaking underneath her and was suddenly aware of how cold it was out in the open and how small she felt, knowing she was in enemy territory. The fireworks in the background had died down and people were starting to abandon the main beach. The lanterns had all touched down into the water and bobbed there uncertainly, some of them tipping over and extinguishing their light in the salty water.

"Why are you telling me these things? Why are you helping us?" she said, regaining control of her mind. She clutched her fists at her side and stood upright, letting her chin jut out defiantly; there was no way she could trust Zuko after what happened in Ba Sing Se.

He considered her carefully for a moment, tilting his head to one side. His face held his typical scowl. Katara didn't understand how she didn't identify him by his lips earlier. His expressions were so distinct in her mind.

"I told you earlier that I've made a lot of mistakes in my life so far. Siding with my sister in Ba Sing Se was one of them. That should have been the first thing I did right. Maybe I could have helped you back then too," he said, unblinkingly. Katara felt her resolve breaking from the solemness in his voice. "Like I said, I have to do _something_ right." Katara let her guard drop; let her body relax a little more. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I don't think I've come anywhere near earning it yet, especially not yours. I just want you to know; I _have_ changed. And I'm trying to do the right thing now."

There was a long pause in which they stared at each other, waiting for the other's reaction; waiting for the other to do something. The lanterns in the water were nearly all extinguished. The wind was bitterly cold as it swept in from the ocean, bringing the darkest part of the night with it. Katara blinked, breaking the stare. "Thank you." She stepped towards him again. "For everything."

Zuko didn't back away and instead took a step towards her. She saw the hesitation in his eyes; in the particular way he frowned at her. The last time she'd been this close to him was in Ba Sing Se. She'd offered to heal his scar; the scar that Kuzon hadn't wanted Sapphire to see tonight after they'd kissed. Her eyes rested on the marred flesh and she brought her hand up to touch it. The pads of her fingers tingled at the contact, and her thumb rested against his lips, just as they had in Ba Sing Se.

"You used the spirit water to heal Aang. You can't heal me now, can you?" She didn't answer in words, but stared at his face for a little longer before lowering her gaze, her shoulders slumping. Zuko's hands came up to her face and she lifted her eyes back up to meet his. "It's better off this way."

They shared another kiss, this time not as Kuzon and Sapphire, but as Zuko and Katara; this time in the dark, by themselves, instead of in the light of lanterns at the edge of a crowd. His lips were still hot, but not as feverish or clumsy. Or maybe it was her lips that weren't clumsy. They didn't hesitated to make it deeper, or let it last a little longer. His fingers framed her face gently and she felt warm as he shielded her from the cold wind sweeping in from the bay.

"Get out of here," he said when the moment was over. He let his hands slip away from her face and he took a step back. She understood; she had to leave; it wasn't safe. She turned away and begged herself not to look back.

* * *

Author's Note: Wow that was long... I hope I didn't bore you all to death there. If you got to the end here, please give yourselves a virtual cookie, then be kind and leave a review telling me what you thought of it. Also, check out my profile page if you're interested in joining Team Zutara. REVIEW!


End file.
